Well, that and the fact that Riot grabbed a chair from the edge of the room and squeezed his way in beside me. He smelled like cigarettes and wood smoke, and that familiar old scent made me want to kiss him so bad my lips tingled.
"Sorry, I'm late," he said with a loose shrug of his muscular shoulders. He was wearing this ridiculous leather vest that bared both arms and the carefully placed tattoos hiding the scars running down them. As soon as he saw me looking, he gave me this slow, stupid wink. A quick flick of my eyes back to Mik, and I could see his jaw was clenched, his nostrils flared.
Jesus, it was a testosterone storm in this room, even with a good dozen women sitting around the table with me. Or maybe it was just me that was trapped in a testosterone triangle? Stuck between Mik and Fin and Riot.
Dinner with Revel was starting to sound … not quite so bad. Maybe I'd go alone tonight, vet her, see if she was even right for Fin before I tried to drag him along. Although getting him mated gets you your magic back … Even with that thought fresh in my mind, I knew that I wasn't ready to pass over my ex just yet.
"Riot Langthorne," Mikhail said, his voice drier than a good Cabernet, not that I’d really know a good one from a shit one. I wasn’t exactly a wine connoisseur. "I don't recall extending you an invitation."
"Do you see another jaguar in the room?" Riot asked with a grin, flashing two, long feline teeth at the vampire. "Because I sure as shit don't."
"We have a felidae representative at hand," Mik continued, gesturing with his chin in the direction of a thin, svelte woman that I knew to be an acinonyx, aka cheetah, shifter.
"Are you telling me to leave?" Riot choked out, reaching into the center of the table and grabbing a pitcher of water and a cup. Slowly, he poured himself a glass as we all waited in silence and I gave Mik a please don't start shit sort of look. Riot and Fin were my problems. I was pretty damn positive I'd get chewed out later, but fuck it. My boss was constantly riding my ass.
Oh.
The thought of my boss actually riding my ass made my nipples pebble into hard points.
If looks could kill, well, Mikhail would've burnt Riot to a crisp in that moment.
"Long story short, the drug ‘dust’ is laced with something. We don't know what it is, but we do know who's supplying it." Mik licked his lips and then tossed a folder full of files onto the table. "Nix Locklear."
"The skinwalker," one of the other women said, reaching out to touch the edge of a photograph. "He's big in the Denver underground; he supplies everything." My jaw clenched a little at that.
I'd almost fucked a crime lord in an alleyway.
And why did that thought do nothing to sober me? I wasn't nearly as grossed out as I should be. Clearly, I had issues.
"Well, he's supplying it and we need to know where it's coming from and what it is." Mik gave me a long, hard look, like this was somehow all my fault. "We've got people looking for him now, but our chances of finding him are slim at this point. He's got resources that rival, maybe even surpass, ours."
"So we stop dust distribution?" one of the others at the table asked. I was too busy shoving Riot's hand off my knee to pay attention. Didn’t help that the warmth of his palm was sending bolts of electricity through my body. "And that solves our problem?"
"Hardly," Bennett volunteered with a laugh. This time, I did look. I had to. His voice was that commanding. One day, I'm going to kill you, I thought as his mouth stretched into a rictus grin and I smiled wickedly back at him. "Once you have an infected shifter, they can pass it on with a wad of cum."
"For fuck's sake, have some decorum," Mik snapped. "What this asshole is trying to say is that the disease, the infection, whatever it is, can be passed on through unprotected sex." Riot reached out and touched a lock of my loose dark hair as Fin glared daggers at me from across the table. "We need to locate any infected persons and either bring them in—"
"Or put a knife in their throat, we get it." Bennett shoved a list across the table and then stood up. He was fucking huge, hulking, his gold eyes burning a path down the front of my t-shirt to linger on my breasts.
I had half a mind to put a dagger in his throat.
"Here are the idiots I need taken out. You have permission to send this—" He pointed directly at me, the muscles in his huge arms bulging. He, too, was covered in ink. I hadn't taken much note of it before, when he was naked, seeing as he was trying to kill me and all. But admittedly, it was impressive. "Fox bitch over into my territory to deal with them. Just her, nobody else. I'll personally guarantee her safety and well-being."
"I'm not sending Thea, so sit your ass down," Mik started, but Bennett was already heading for the door.
One alpha male to another … not a good combination.
"Get your fucking ass back here!" Mikhail snapped, not at all like his usual overly composed self. He glanced down at me and then flicked his attention back to the people sitting around the table. It wasn't at all common for different shifter groups to come together. We all followed our own rules, separate from humanity; rarely did we connect, overlap, or intercede in each other's lives.
I guess Mik calling all these people together was a sign that this time, it was different.
Bennett ignored Mik completely, shoving his way out the doors and letting them slam shut behind him. If he hadn’t been running a meeting, I think Mik might’ve gone after him.
"Spread the word, watch the backs of your own, and talk to your guild representative if you see Nix." Mikhail moved around the table, his black trench billowing out behind him before he paused and rubbed at his chin. "Or if you need a hit."
And then he was storming out the door, and I was chasing after him.
"You called this meeting and now you're going to cut it short?" I asked, knowing full-well that Riot and Fin would soon be following along behind me. Fan-fucking-tastic. Dealing with Mikhail was hard on a good day, but with my two unwanted sidekicks? Or really, my two not-so-unwanted sidekicks. "You're not going after Bennett, are you?"
"How stupid do you think I am?" Mikhail asked as he headed toward his office, and I followed along. "He'd fight me to the death. I'd win, but it wouldn't be pretty."
"Well, aren't we secure in our abilities," I quipped, knowing I was making a mistake by baiting a man that was already on edge. Mik grabbed my arm and shoved me into his office, slamming and locking the door behind him. The door was made of glass, though, so I had a pretty damn good view of my exes.
"Maybe you should go pick up your pet, get that woman to mate with Finley, and get your tails bound. Then take a week off—paid."
"You're not going to dismiss me just like that," I growled at him. Mikhail was staring at the floor, eyes closed while Riot leaned against the wall outside the door, and Fin crossed his arms over his chest. If they kept following me around like this, it was only a matter of time before I gave in and … I don’t know what. Took them back? Fuck, I was stronger than this! "You're not, Mik. What about the Vail Valley Pack? There are eight—"
"You're not going," he said, lifting his head up and opening his eyes. As soon as our gazes met, I saw that his pupils were dilated and I knew I was in trouble. Again.
"Bennett wants me for the job, and I'm free—" I began, but I didn't get to finish because Mikhail was throwing himself at me, pinning me against his desk with an arm on either side. I didn't flinch, good for me. But I did see his eyes latch onto my throbbing pulse, his tongue run across his lower lip.
"I'm in charge here, Thea," he continued as I wondered how he fed on a regular basis. Where did he get his blood? And was it always this sexual, this intense of a connection? Because if so, I could see why a vampire would kill their prey afterward; this was fucking intense.
Intense … and awkward.